Public Netbase

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Public Netbase
fate = Defunded
foundation = 1994 (as Institute for New Culture Technologies)
defunct = January 11, 2006
location = Vienna, Austria
industry = Internet service provider
key_people = Konrad Becker

Public Netbase was an Austrian non-profit internet service provider, web host, and advocate for the development of electronic art. Long a support of avant-garde, sometimes controversial, art and digital culture, the company increasingly came into conflict with the Austrian political establishment during the 1990s. Despite awards and recognition by UNESCO, the political controversy led to a lack of funding that ended the project in 2006.

Early development

Although Public Netbase itself was founded in Vienna by Konrad Becker and Francisco de Sousa Webber in 1995, its parent organization, the Institute for New Culture Technologies, was established in 1994 in Vienna's Museumsquartier.cite web | title=About Public Netbase / t0 |url=http://www.netbase.org/t0/about |accessdate=2006-11-28] Most of the Institute's activities after 1995 occurred through Public Netbase, leading to the names and establishment dates being loosely applied, even in the organization's official material. The name of its World Wide Web server, t0, was often appended to either name as well.

Art and culture

Public Netbase focused on aiding the development of electronic art and the impact of the nascent World Wide Web on culture. Its own online presence earned it an award for distinction at the Prix Ars Electronica in 1995.cite web |title=Prix Ars Electronica 1995 World Wide Web Distinction |url=http://www.aec.at/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=2528# |accessdate=2006-11-28] Much of the web space provided through Public Netbase supported Austrian artists, although some hosted projects, such as the Transformation Story Archive, had wider recognition. The physical location in the Museumsquartier was also used for sponsored events, ranging from art symposia to a conference of the Association of Autonomous Astronautscite press release |title=Association of Autonomous Astronauts' Intergalactic Conference in Vienna, Earth, June 21-22 1997 |date=1997-06-06 |url=http://www.rhizome.org/thread.rhiz?thread=1274&page=1#660 |accessdate=2006-11-28] to a "lecture/performance/event" by Critical Art Ensemble about biotechnology.cite press release |title=FLESH MACHINE: A Genexploitation Project |date=1997-11-17 |url=http://www.rhizome.org/thread.rhiz?thread=1475&page=1#940 |accessdate=2006-11-28]

Involvement in politics

When the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and its leader Jörg Haider began to rise in power in Austria, Public Netbase took an increasingly political activist role while facing increasing government pressure. Haider accused Public Netbase of sponsoring child pornography [cite web| url=http://www.medialounge.net/lounge/workspace/crashhtml/cc/29.htm| publisher=Crash Media| title=Sex slaves to public opinion - Public Netbase kicks back...| first=Micz| last= Flor| date=1998-11-27| accessdate=2006-10-01] and conflated Christina Göstl's hosted erotic art with a commercial porn site in the British Virgin Islands during a speech in parliament.cite web| url=http://archive.salon.com/21st/feature/1998/08/06feature.html | publisher=Salon| title=Is it Sex or is it Art? | first=Janelle | last= Brown| date=1998-09-06| accessdate=2006-10-02] Meanwhile, Public Netbase sponsored a "virtual alternative to Austria's far right government" that offered Austrian Web Resistance Awards to web sites dedicated to opposing Haider's government.cite web |title=About government-austria.at |url=http://government-austria.at/index.php3?lang=&menuid=about |accessdate=2006-11-28]

Public Netbase's actions earned considerable prestige. The Institute for Applied Autonomy, recipient of an award for distinction in interactive art at the Prix Ars Electronica 2000,cite web |title=Prix Ars Electronica 2000 Interactive Art Distinction |url=http://www.aec.at/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=2175 |accessdate=2006-11-28] dedicated their award to Public Netbase for its political efforts.cite web |title=Public Netbase t0 ist überraschender Preisträger des Prix Ars Electronica 2000 |url=http://www.netbase.org/t0/about/press/20000905 |accessdate=2006-11-28] Another Public Netbase project begun during this period, World-information.org, described as "an ongoing effort to critically observe and investigate new technologies in a societal, economic and artistic context"cite web | title=World-information.org |publisher=Public Netbase |url=http://www.netbase.org/t0/projects/wio |accessdate=2006-11-28] led to involvement with the UNESCO Digi-Arts programcite web |title=World-information.org |publisher=UNESCO |date=2004-10-11 |url=http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=23603&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |accessdate=2006-11-28] and a series of conventions across Europe.

However, the organization's successes were insufficient to stave off problems. Its lease at the Museumsquartier was not renewed after the controversial remodelling period in 2000,cite journal |last=Wassermair |first=M. |title='In Austria, the Clock Ticks with a Different Beat': Short Story of Public Netbase t0, its International Success and Recent Political Struggles |journal=Cultivate Interactive |issue=2 |date=2000-10-16 |id= ISSN|1471-3225 |url=http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue2/netbase/ |accessdate=2006-11-28] and it faced a series of audits and other bureaucratic obstacles. Financial difficulties and an inability to secure a permanent replacement location were never able to be resolved.cite press release |title=Open letter to Michael Häupl, Mayor of Vienna, and the Vienna City Government |url=http://www.netbase.org/t0/about/press/20040506 |date=2004-05-06 |accessdate=2006-11-28] Despite significant community support and a reorganization effort in 2005 that shortened its name to Netbase, the City of Vienna stopped all funding effective January 11, 2006, leading to the immediate shut down of the organization.

References